Railway signal-fusee.



I. NIDITGH. RAILWAY SIGNAL FUSEE.

APPLICATION FILED DEO.16,1909.

Patented Apr. 19, 19.10.

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I'SADORE NIDITCH, OF DORCHESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO AMERICAN FOG SIGNAL COMPANY, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

RAILWAY SIGNAL-FUSEE.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Apr. 19,1910.

Application filed December 16, 1909. Serial No. 538,373.

railway signal fusees, the object of which will be fully described hereinafter?" Referring now to the draWingsF1gure 1 is a longitudinal central sectional view of a fusee which embodies my present improvement. Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional View of the head or lighting end of the fusee.

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of a fusee embodying ent improvement.

Referring now to the drawing, 1 is the usual paper tube in which the combustible amodification of my presmixture 2 is contained. Connected with one end of this tube is the usual plug 3, with the spike 4:.

It is well known to those skilled in this art that signal fusees have their lighting end 5, provided with an igniting material consisting principally of potassium chlorate and also a member carrying a priming material, consisting principally of phosphorus, and that the fusee is ignited by frictional contact between the priming agent and the igniting material. It is also well known to those skilled in this art that the commercial signal fusee has its combustible compound including sulfur and potassium chlorate. I The composition of my improved fusee difiers from the foregoing compositionin that potassium chlorate is avoiding the liability to spontaneous ignition which exists in a mixture, or combination of sulfur and potassium chlorate.

This. improved fusee is also ignited by friction between potassium chlorate and phosphorus, and my improvement consists v in separating the chlorate in the igniting head from the combustible compound of the fusee, so that any acid within this compoundtviil not read on the potassium chlorate igniting mixture, thereby avoiding every possibility of spontaneous ignition.

The foregoing result is accomplished by separating the combustible compound of the fusee'iirem the potassium chlorate, stratum 'which has the wall entirely omitted, therebyor lighting head, by a material which is undecomposable by acids in the composition, or liable to be generated by the composition.

This material or substance is preferably,

though notnecessarily, made in the form of a core 6, which projects asuitable distance into the compound 2, of the fusee.

vOne of the chemical expressions of the a metallic nitrate,

is not. subject to spontaneous combustion. f

The separating core 6, consists perchlorate, preferably potassium perchlorate, and is undecomposable in the presence of any acid generated in the fusee compound 2.

In the. form of tube shown in Fig. 1,

of the tube crimped inward, as shown at 7, this separating medium or core projects outside and extends-over on the outside of the crimped end 7. The stratum or lighting head 8, which consists principally of potassium chlorate is now preferably painted in the form of a thin film on the projecting portion of the separating medium or core 6. This construction separates and isolates the potassium chlorate of'the stratum or lighting head 3 from the sulfur or other gredient in the combustible compound of the fusee, thus absolutel action of any possible acid within the body of the fusee on the potassium chlorate contained in the stratum 0r lighting head. Attention is called to the fact that neither the separating medium 6, nor the lighting head 8 contains any sulfur.

A fusee of this construction avoids the possibility of spontaneous ignition from the compound of the fusee itself, and also from the re-action of any acid within the combustible body of the fusee 'on the chlorate in the igniting head; A

In the modification'shown in Fig. '3, in which the end of the paper tube l'ls open, the foregoing result is accomplished by a layer 9 of the s'eparatin mediunqi between the combustible body 2 0% the fusee and'the stratum or lighting head 10, which is composed principally of potassium chlorate.

preventing "the- The constructions here shown are intended illustrations of my invention, but they may be varied without departing from the scope and spirit of my invention, so long as the compound in the body of the fuses omits potassium chlorate, and a. medium undecomposable in the presence of acids in the compound, or liable to be generated byv-th'e compound, separates the compound of the fuses from the potassium chlorate stratum or lighting head.

I do not make any claim herein for the new fusce compound 2, for this is made the subject-matter of a separate co-pending application, and I therefore retain the right to separate protection therefor.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desireto secure by Letters Patent is:

1. An improved signal fusee comprising an elongated combustible tube, a combustible compound including an ingredient liable to produce acids and an oxidizing agent undecomposable by the acids, an outside lighting stratum, and a combustible separating medium, the chief constituent of which is an oxidizing substance undecomposable by said acids between and uniting the combustible compound and the lighting stratum.

2. An improved signal fusee comprising an elongated combustible 'tube, a combustible compound including sulfur and an oxidizing a ent undecomposable by the acids generated from the compound, an outside lighting stratum composed principally of potassium chlorate, and a combustible separating medium the chief constituent of which is an oxidizing substance undecom posable by said acids between and uniting the combustible compound and the lightingstratum. i

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature in the presence of two Witnesses.

- ISADORE NIDITGH. Witnesses:'

JOHN L. FL TCHER,

C. R, WVRIGHT, Jr. 

